Soviet Style Secret Meetings--American Style

Impeachment is not about punishment. Impeachment is about cleansing the office. Impeachment is about restoring honor and  integrity to the office. You couldn't live with yourself  knowing you were going to leave a perjuring judge on the bench. Ladies and gentlemen, as hard as it may be, for the same reasons, cleanse this office.

South Carolina republican Representative Lindsey Graham in 1999, speaking during Bill Clinton's impeachment proceedings.  



On Wednesday, led by Florida Representative, Matt Gaetz, about two dozen republicans invaded what is known as the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility in the basement of the capitol building. Their stated purpose was to stop the, "Soviet style," secret impeachment proceedings against Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America.

Gaetz had tried this move by himself a week earlier and was hauled from the room kicking and squealing. On Wednesday he brought along his buddies and they all came in carrying their cell phones/cameras which is a direct violation of Congressional regulations regarding what is called the SCIF. The breach was deemed so egregious security officials had to sweep the room for listening devices delaying the testimony of witnesses.

After the republicans left, they were all, to a man, appalled no one was allowed to testify while they were there. We have a right, they complained en masse, to hear what is being said.

Actually, according to House rules, they don't and despite the faux outrage, not one republican has ever said, Adam Schiff and the democrats are breaking any of them. Later FOX News analyst, former Judge Andrew Napolitano explained this inconvenient bit of parliamentary fact to three of his colleagues on the air. He also stated the rules which Schiff and democrats were operating under were ones signed off on by former republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and approved by a GOP controlled house in January 2015.

Shortly after Napolitano's appearance Boehner, being Boehner, denied he ever approved of such goings on, once again trying to divert the argument away from Trump and toward the process.

It was left to freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez to finally tweet out what is currently happening in the SCIF. It is, she wrote, more akin to a Grand Jury rather than an some super secret Star Chamber. In other words it is an investigation gathering information which might, or might not lead to impeachment proceedings. And, as she pointed out, Grand Juries are always held in secret so witnesses and defendants can't compare notes, not to mention alibis, in advance of an actual trial.

Such subtleties are lost on people like Gaetz, GOP House members, and the fascist hordes who show up at Mr. Trump's rallies. They would prefer to scream about democrats attempting to overthrow the Chief Executive in secret rather than deal with the reality of the situation.

There are currently 103 members of Congress on the three different committees conducting the SCIF meetings. Of that number 47 are republicans. One of them, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, told the Washington Post, both sides are allowed an unlimited number of questions they can ask each witness.

Ah yes, quite, "Soviet."

The inescapable truth here is the GOP caucus in Congress has no valid reason not to impeach and convict Donald Trump. For whatever reasons though, they have decided to fight for him. Some, no doubt, actually believe the conspiracy theories the hard right has grown so dependent on. Some might fear Trump's bombastic supporters and dread getting chucked out of office during the primaries. While the rest--who knows--perhaps it is cowardice, or a perceived cash flow problem if The Big Orange Guy is no longer around to look the other way. In any event the only possible defense they have right now is to attack a constitutional process which has been in place since the republic was founded.

Their wild rants present an ugly and corrupt tableau which is unfolding right in front of us on television and other media. It's one so corrosive it might even consume the idea of America.

All of which leads us to another couple of quotes by the young Mr. Graham. "You don't have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this Constitutional Republic," he said. Then he added, a President can be impeached if Congress decides his, "conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds."

Well, we can say many things about republicans and Lindsey Graham, but none of us can ever claim hypocrisy isn't one of their strong points.


10-25-19